The attitude to personality disorder questionnaire: psychometric properties and results

Attitudes of professional psychiatric staff to personality disordered patients are notoriously pessimistic. This paper reports the findings from: (a) an exploratory survey to assess the components of attitude to personality disorder; (b) an assessment of the test-retest reliability of the attitude to personality disorder questionnaire; and (c) a confirmatory factor analysis with a third sample. Factor analysis of the feelings aroused in nurses by patients demonstrated an underlying structure consisting of enjoyment, security, acceptance, sense of purpose, and enthusiasm. This structure was confirmed in a subsequent sample. Test-retest reliabilities of the instrument were good to excellent. The scale has a robust structure, good psychometric properties, and is useful for outcome studies, benchmarking between units, and regular audits of staff attitude. Full details of the scale are provided, with normative data.